Hardik Pandya and James Faulkner will be under spotlight when India host Australia.
Hardik Pandya (L), James Faulkner (R) (Photos: IANS, AFP)
Bowling all-rounders Hardik Pandya and James Faulkner will be under spotlight when India host Australia for an exciting limited-over series, starting with the first ODI at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
Both the cricketers are known for their abilities of hitting far-stretched shots on field. Especially in the Indian Premier League, they have come up with their beast form in the past.
The 23-year-old Gujarati lad is currently riding an aggressive form. In his last 10 international matches, Pandya was extremely consistent with the ball as he took 14 wickets while playing seven ODIs and three Test matches.
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New but relevant to the circuit, Pandya has scored 308 and 100 runs in 21 ODIs and 19 T20Is respectively. Adding to this, his strike rate of 131.06 in ODIs and 133.33 in T20Is and 31 sixes in 43 matches across all formats make him the most exciting batsman to watch at middle-order.
As far as his Right-arm medium-fast bowling is concerned, Pandya has claimed 42 international wickets in 43 matches, with an awe-inspiring spell of 3/8 in T20 international cricket.
Faulkner is much more experienced than Pandya as he has represented Australia in 92 international matches so far.
In 67 ODIs, the 27-year-old paceman has claimed 95 wickets and scored 988 runs with a hundred and four 50-plus knocks. In the shortest format, Faulkner has 159 runs and 36 wickets in his kitty from 24 T20I matches.
Playing against India, Faulkner has claimed 18 wickets and scored 323 runs with a century in 19 limited-over matches. Faulkner’s best against India came in Bengaluru, when he struck 116 runs off 17 balls in an ODI match in 2011.
Pandya has faced Australia in just four T20Is so far, where he claimed five wickets with a best-spell of 2/36. He couldn’t get to bat in those matches, though watching his current form one may expect him to bat fearlessly if he gets a chance to bat in the upcoming matches.
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